Village Defenders 1.1.0 Beta

This is a beta release. The primary combat and settlement-defense systems have passed automated checks and targeted in-game testing, but several combinations and edge cases still require broader testing.

Tested and Working

• Villagers detect nearby threats and enter defensive settlement states.
• Eligible villagers obtain swords, armor and shields from manually placed Armory Racks.
• Defenders pursue hostile mobs and raid participants.
• Melee defenders repeatedly attack instead of hitting once and fleeing.
• Iron swords apply the expected attack damage.
• Player attacks against villagers trigger full settlement defense.
• Defenders recognize and pursue the confirmed hostile player without targeting unrelated players.
• Creative-mode players remain immune to defender damage as expected.
• Protectors raise shields and successfully block ordinary attacks.
• Low-health defenders can leave combat and withdraw.
• Raid participants are divided between nearby settlements instead of every settlement targeting the same enemy.
• Settlements can remain alert between raid waves without sending defenders toward unrelated targets.
• Withdrawal and re-engagement decisions are more stable and no longer change from a single temporary capacity fluctuation.
• Iron golems retain their normal behavior while contributing to settlement defense.
• Golems no longer receive unrestricted long-distance targeting instructions from Village Defenders.(they used to target zombies below 100 blocks down/away)
• Defenders without a target and without a Guard Post no longer run toward an arbitrary settlement anchor.
• Villagers can return loaned equipment when they die.
• Armor placement around villager bodies has been improved.
• Sword and axe placement now better aligns the weapon with the villager’s hands.
• Defensive arm positioning uses a Vindicator-inspired pose while preserving the villager model.
• Shield positioning and defensive presentation have been improved.
• Children remain civilians and are not assigned combat roles.

Still Being Tested

• The following systems are included in testing but are not yet fully confirmed:
• Axe-based shield disabling and the complete shield-disable cooldown.
• Natural completion of an entire raid followed by equipment return and settlement recovery.
• Shelter selection when villagers have valid beds, homes or Shelter Markers.
• Calm-time guardian and child behavior after an emergency.
• Equipment return after ordinary recovery, chunk unloading, blocked navigation and world restarts.
• Donated Diamond, Netherite, enchanted and compatible modded equipment.
• Best-equipment selection and return of stronger donated equipment.
• Generated reserve protection against every inventory and automation interaction.
• Cleric potion support, potion consumption and splash-safety checks.
• Ranged defender behavior.
• Generated-village Armory Rack integration with Villager Types.
• Duplicate-stock prevention across configuration changes, chunk loading and settlement merging.
• Villager AI/types and Identity mods integrations.
• Multiplayer synchronization and late joining.
• Large or crowded village performance.
• Every profession, biome outfit, resource pack and heavily modified villager model.
• Balance against later raid waves, Vindicators and heavily modified raids.
• Compatibility with projects that substantially replace villager combat or navigation.

A live raid test confirmed that defenders detect, pursue and kill raid participants. Full raid completion was not confirmed because the final raider could not be located.

Known Problems

• If a settlement has no valid bed, home or Shelter Marker, civilians may repeatedly attempt to reach the settlement anchor.
• Guardians and children can repeat the same unsuccessful movement request when no valid shelter exists. This may appear as running, following or gathering near the village meeting point and nearby golems.
• The debug log may print a misleading disabledUntil value when a shield was not actually disabled.
• Village Defenders does not currently provide an easy way to display the coordinates of a hidden final raid participant.

Beta Notice

This build is suitable for testing and normal play with backups, but it should not yet be treated as fully validated. Please report unexpected combat behavior, failed shelter movement, equipment duplication or loss, persistent raid states and compatibility problems with complete logs and reproduction steps.